Conference hydra::dejavu

    Maybe this should be in FLYING.NOT. ;-)
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
    

Associated Press Mon 14-JUL-1986 12:05                        Maharishi-Suits

   Ex-Devotees Sue on Fraud Charges

   WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal judge today set a November trial date
for a suit against the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and his organization by
a man who contends they defrauded and physically and psychologically
harmed him.
   The plaintiff is one of seven, still unnamed in public documents,
who are suing the maharishi, the Maharishi International University
of Fairfield, Iowa, and related groups, contending the maharishi and
his people falsely promised personal growth, inner peace and even
the ability to fly.
   They are each seeking $9 million in damages.
   The first plaintiff, referred to as ``John Doe I of Sea Isle
City, N.J.,'' contends in his complaint that he got little but sore
joints after spending 11 years and more than $6,000 taking courses
beginning with transcendental meditation and later working for the
organization for little or no pay.
   He has suffered and ``will continue to suffer the severe mental
anguish, trauma and humility of realizing that he had devoted a
substantial portion of his youth to serving and supporting the
defendants' organization, which had perpetrated a massive fraud on
him and other members of the public,'' the complaint says.
   The maharishi's organization has denied any guilt.
   It had also filed a motion asking that it be allowed to press a
counterclaim that the plaintiffs themselves had breached agreements
with the organization by making the public charges. However, that
motion was withdrawn today.
   Attorney John Ridge, representing the maharishi's organization in
a brief hearing today before U.S. District Court Judge Oliver Gasch,
asked that all seven of the cases be tried at once.
   The plaintiffs' attorney, Gerald Ragland, said a single trial or
two might be useful as guidance for settlement of the remaining
cases, indicating whether the claims had merit and ``if so what
they're worth.''
   Ridge objected that such an arrangement might give a tactical
advantage to the plaintiffs.
   Gasch said he would set trial for the complaint of John Doe I for
Nov. 5 and for the rest of the plaintiffs on Dec. 10, then added,
``If the result of the first case facilitates resolution of the
entire issue, everybody will save a little time.''
   The suits of the plaintiffs, six men and a woman, contend their
names should not be made public, at least at this time, because they
might become subject to harassment by followers of the maharishi or
ridicule by current friends or co-workers.
   The maharishi's organization has published pictures that they
said showed advanced practitioners of the maharishi's methods
levitating. They gave the first public demonstration of what they
called ``yogic flying'' last week in Washington.
   Reporters saw practitioners hopping while in seated positions.
Organizers of the demonstration said the practitioners were not
pushing themselves off the ground but were rising involuntarily as
their meditation gave them higher and higher levels of ``brain
coherence.''

    Re .2:
    
    When still photos of "levitating" students were first shown on
    television several years ago, at that time a reporter (on NBC, I
    believe) noted that theey were hopping.
    
    Steve Kallis, Jr.
    

	    [RE .0]:  They held a *competition*?
			<_Jym_>

    
      In regards to the FLYING note file, there is a tongue-in-cheek
    note in that file (I think it's an extract from A HITCHHIKER'S
    GUIDE TO THE GALAXY, if memory serves) on "How to Fly".  It seems
    to suit this case admirably!

Associated Press Fri 12-DEC-1986 02:10                         Maharishi Yogi

   Witness Claims Fraud in $9 Million Meditation Suit

   WASHINGTON (AP) - When Robert Kropinski first came in contact
with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's transcendental meditation in 1972, he
thought he had found the key to a new life. Later, he says, it
didn't turn out that way.
   The 36-year-old Kropinski testified Thursday, the first day of a
civil trial, that he first heard about TM in a radio commercial on
his favorite rock station in Philadelphia where he lives.
   ``I was content with myself,'' he said. ``I just wanted to
better myself, further my education when I heard about free
introductory lessons ...'' He said he went to a session out of
curiosity.
   Kropinski said he was told that TM ``would improve every aspect
of my life'' and that ``in five years, you could achieve a perfect
state of life.'' He said he began taking lessons in earnest, even
becoming a TM teacher.
   Last year, he and six other people filed suit against the Mahesh
Yogi, the Maharishi International University and the corporate
headquarters, World Plan Executive Council-United States, charging
them with fraud, negligence and intentionally inflicting emotional
damage. Kropinski is seeking $9 million.
   Kropinski's suit's, being tried before a jury in U.S. District
Court before Judge Oliver Gasch, is expected to last for several
weeks.
   Mahesh Yogi has since been dismissed from the case because his
former students were unable to serve him with the legal papers even
though lawyers sought him out in India and Switzerland.
   Kropinski charges that the guru's followers told him the
practice of TM was scientifically proven to reduce stress, improve
memory, reverse the aging process, enable individuals to achieve
their full potential, confer perfect health, reduce inner strife
and promote world peace.
   In addition, Kropinski said the followers promised to teach him,
in an advanced course, to ``fly,'' or self-levitate, and to attain
the ability to manipulate the physical world and the laws of nature.
   He said he spent 11 years attempting to realize the promised
benefits, including four years working full-time for the Mahesh
Yogi and his organization for little or no pay.
   Kropinski told a jury the guru and his followers used ``fear and
intimidation to prevent me from discontinuing his involvement with
TM.'' He said he was alienated from his family and friends who were
not associated with the TM practice.
   Dwight James, one of the guru's lawyers, told the jury that
Kropinski was not defrauded in taking the TM courses.
   ``Fraud is an intentional lie,'' he said. ``You will find that
there was a sincere belief on the part of the defendants on what
they thought and what they taught.''
   He said there have been hundreds of scientific papers that show
TM improves the memory, the learning capacity and the ability to
readjust from stress situations.
   But, he said to the jury, the defendants ``are not asking you to
believe anything about the benefits of transcendental mediation -
that it can bring world peace or reduce the crime rate or teach you
to fly.
   ``They just want you to know they are sincere in what they
believe.''
   

Associated Press Wed 14-JAN-1987 02:57                         Maharishi Yogi

Transcendatal Mediation Groups May Appeal Jury Award

   WASHINGTON (AP) - Two Transcendental Meditation groups may
appeal a jury's award of nearly $138,000 to a former follower who
charged he was falsely promised he could learn to fly, a spokesman
says.
   The two groups, founded by the Indian guru Maharishi Mahesh
Yogi, were declared liable for negligence and fraud by a federal
court jury that heard evidence in a lawsuit brought by Robert
Kropinski.
   But jurors, who reached a verdict Tuesday in the month-long case
before U.S. District Judge Oliver Gasch, refused to grant punitive
damages that Kropinski sought in his $9 million lawsuit.
   Attorneys for the World Plan Executive Council-United States and
the Maharishi International University of Fairfield, Iowa, have 10
days to ask the judge to set aside the verdict.
   The guru originally was named as a defendant, but he was
dismissed from the case because attorneys were unable to serve him
with court papers in Switzerland and India.
   Mike Tompkins, a spokesman for the two groups, said officials
were reviewing the verdict and would soon decide how to proceed.
   ``We were surprised and puzzled by it,'' Tompkins said. ``We
respect the sincerity and integrity of the jury's decision, but we
feel that the evidence didn't warrant that particular decision.''
   Tompkins cited ``over 350 scientific studies'' showing the
benefits of Transcendental Meditation, or TM.
   ``No evidence was introduced during the trial to dispute the
studies,'' he said.
   Kropinski, 36, a Philadelphia property manager, charged in the
lawsuit that he suffered emotional, psychological and physical
injury as a result of his 11-year association with TM as both a
student and teacher.
   Kropinski alleged he was falsely promised that TM would help him
reduce stress, achieve better health, reverse the aging process and
learn to ``fly'' through a self-levitation procedure.
   But the lawsuit charged that Kropinski and other students
learned only to ``hop with the legs folded in the lotus position.''
   ``They said in five years, you could achieve a perfect state of
life,'' Kropinski testified during the trial.
   After the verdict, Kropinski acknowledged that attacks on his
credibility during the trial may have hurt his chances to win
punitive damages.
   Kropinski said he was portrayed by defense attorneys as ``a
person who looked for an easy way out,'' adding, ``That may be a
trait.''
   But ``what they were promising was to produce a perfect human
being. They were making the claim that TM ... was the ultimate easy
way out.''
   ``What they are after is your soul,'' said Kropinski, who
charged in the trial that he was forced to sign oaths of silence
about certain TM practices and was subjected to intimidation when
he tried to withdraw from the movement.
   ``There is no hidden agenda to TM,'' said Tompkins. ``We have
always been very simple and direct and truthful.''
   Seven other former TM followers have filed similar lawsuits
against the groups that are pending in federal court in Washington.
   Coincidentally, a $16 million lawsuit charging Lifespring Inc.,
another self-improvement group, with inflicting emotional damage on
five people was filed Tuesday in federal court.
   The lawsuit was brought by a Maryland couple who obtained a
court order to allow themselves and their three children to remain
anonymous pending further court proceedings in the case.
   It charged that despite claims Lifespring offered opportunities
for personal growth, the training was simply ``for the purpose of
subjecting the trainees to a `thought reform' process in which
trainees personalities are disrupted and ultimately displaced and
supplanted with a `reformed' personality which is emotionally and
ideologically committed to recruiting additional trainees,''
according to court papers.

Associated Press Fri 30-JAN-1987 00:19                            Guru Battle

   Jury Awards $105,000 To Ex-Meditator In Guru Rivalry

   FAIRFIELD, Iowa (AP) - A jury has awarded $105,000 damages to a
man who claimed he was fired from a company headed by a follower of
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for associating with a rival guru.
   Jeffrey Knox, 30, of Flemington, N.J., had accused Prime Energy
Inc. and its president Roger D. Beaton with breach of contract,
slander and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
   Beaton said the judge dismissed eight of the nine charges and
sent only the question of breach of contract against the company to
the jury.
   Beaton, who has taught and is a present practitioner of
transcendental meditation, said Knox was fired in 1985 because he
said he was home sick when he actually was driving guru Prakashanan
Saraswati to the airport.
   The company's lawyers described Saraswati as a rival of the
maharishi, founder of the TM movement, and accused Knox of swearing
allegiance to Saraswati.
   Knox told the jury that he was host to Saraswati at his
Fairfield home and didn't deny driving Saraswati to the airport.
   He argued he was fired ``without just cause'' and said company
officials slandered him when they accused him of lying about why he
was absent from his job.
   His attorney, Ed Kelly, said Knox was awarded $70,000 in actual
damages and $35,000 in punitive damages by the eight-person,
Jefferson County jury.
   A 1979 graduate of Maharishi International University in
Fairfield, Knox said he has left the TM movement and no longer
meditates.
   The verdict Tuesday was the second this month to award damages
to a former meditator. Earlier, a Washington, D.C., jury awarded
$138,000 to a Philadelphia businessman who accused the movement and
university of fraud and negligence. The ex-meditator said prolonged
meditation had caused him mental and emotional problems.

 re .9:

  Some might say that the exercises proposed in Sahaja Yoga are 'non-sensical'.
 Unless you want 'intelligent' people to treat Sahaja Yoga with the same
 mocking remarks as you choose to use about another practice, I think you
 should review your own position of disdain towards TM.

  While I have not enrolled in the TM Siddhi program, I have been a TM
 meditator on and off for over 12 years.  I am now actively investigating
 Sahaja Yoga, and I am impressed with the simplicity and integrity of the
 methods.  However, I do not see the blasting of other practices as supported
 by the teachings of Sri Mataji.

  Even if Sahaja Yoga is the most effective, or even the only, way to achieve
 self-realization, it has only recently been developed in its current form by
 Sri Mataji.  What were genuine seekers to do before Sahaja Yoga happened
 upon the scene?

  Your statements about money highlight the position of Sahaja Yoga where no
 money is charged, yet you should revisit some of the discussions concerning
 the fees of Lazaris' to recognize that teachings which hold personal value
 may be worth paying for, especially since we commonly spend our money on
 things with little value.

  Not charging any money definitely enhances the integrity of Sahaja Yoga, and
 this is part of the reason that I have chosen to pursue it.  However,  this
 position should not be used to put other practices down in a competitive way,
 but rather it should be handled as Sri Mataji has done, by saying that by its
 very nature Sahaja Yoga cannot be sold because it is each of our birthrights.
 This does not require that ALL teachings which hold value must also share this
 premise.

  If you carefully reviewed the TM methods you would know that the practices
 stem from the several thousand year old Yoga Sutras written by Patanjali.
 Special powers, or siddhis, were described, and thier practice was considered
 to develop and strengthen personal control over attention and will for a
 specialized siddhi, and the strengthened will could then be generalized into
 a tool to enhance personal development towards realization.  While this
 strategy may or may not be effective, it is certainly not stupid.  In fact,
 Sahaja Yoga recognizes that these special abilities exist, yet in Sahaja Yoga
 they are viewed as unbalanced developments which do not lead to realization.

  Was Patanjali also a crook?  You seem to disregard the possibility that
 Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and other TM practitioners may be well-intentioned,
 albeit possibly misguided.  Do you propose that Maharishi Mahesh Yogi is
 personally making all the money?  It seems to me that Sri Mataji's references
 to charlatans were directed more towards those like Sri Rajneesh who have
 blatantly squandered followers' money on themselves.  If nothing else, hasn't
 TM opened the ears of a broader audience for Sahaja Yoga?

  I am very attracted to the Sahaja Yoga teachings and experiences as presented
 by Sri Mataji, but I am surprised at the self-righteous judgmentalism which
 appears to be manifested by some of her followers.  I will continue to pursue
 Sahaja Yoga, hoping that the judgments are either a misinterpretation on my
 part or a distortion of her teachings.

						Todd
                           

Re: .9 

Hey, come on, give the frogs a break. ;-)

John.

dear todd,

Happy to receive your reply. Agree I went a little wild in my judgements,  I 
do apologise for the tone of my reply. So I removed that 160.9. OK?

It comes when a realised soul hears about sincere seekers falling in the wrong 
hands, getting damaged. Sometimes it is hard to bear. It is as if you see 
somebody get robbed and you want to jump to help the victim. Over the years, so 
many persons over the world that did TM and trying to get their realisation, 
were so much damaged that it is sometimes impossible for the Kundalini to rise. 
This is a very sad thing isn't it. Anyway what you say is true, we are not to 
judge.

To answer your statements related to Patanjali; For a teaching to be true, it 
is not sufficient to base that it references to true scriptures. The names and 
the teachings of All great saints have been misused all the time. 
Intellectually it is not allways possible to distinguish false from truth, 
because falsehood comes in many disguises. Teachers themselves are not allways 
aware if their interpretations really convey the original message. Only
AFTER self realisation one can FEEL the truth, then it is no longer a
mental understanding. 

Glad to hear you are checking out sahaja yoga.

How did you relate that 160.9 to a Sahaja Yogi? Like to refer you to some 
other notes I wrote recently: 1041.0 and 165.31 in this directory, 477.24 in 
the INDIA directory. Just started to write, is very exciting. 

Critiscism is allways welcome. You are right not just to swallow what is not 
proved to you.

regards

Are you by any chance Todd who attended a few Sahaj meetings in Cambridge?

 re .12;

  I am encouraged by the openness of your response, Johan.

  I can understand your frustration over seeing people be misled.  However,
 people's impression of Sahaja Yoga is not enhanced by denouncing other
 practices, but rather by presenting the integrity of its own teachings.
 Judgements imposed upon others appear to be an aspect of 'fanaticism' which
 is explicitly discouraged in Sahaja Yoga.

  I do not feel that I was 'damaged' by TM.  In Sahaja Yoga terminology it seems
 that it moved me somewhat more to the 'right' (not politically of course ;-})
 at a time when I had been particularly far to the 'left' with a depressive
 turn of mind.  The net effect seems to have been a migration towards the
 'center'.  Since Sahaja Yoga teaches that the 'center' cannot be entered from
 the 'left' but only from the 'right', TM may have actually been an aid to
 my potential for kundalini realization.  The TM Siddhi training is much more
 intense, and as such it may include some more far-reaching effects, I don't
 know.  I have met some TM Siddhi's who seemed relatively healthy, however.

  Since Sahaja Yoga utilizes mantras for certain purposes (as well as certain
 exercises from other Yogas) it supports the practice of TM to some extent.
 The difference is that Sahaja Yoga selectively "applies" the Yoga techniques
 upon identification of specific imbalances or blockages in our systems.
 This suggests a higher level of understanding in Sahaja Yoga which considers
 some of the 'ends' of other practices as the 'means' of Sahaja Yoga.

  TM and some other Yogas appear to reflect an 'exoteric' (outer) view of Yoga,
 where significant portions of the original 'esoteric' (inner) teaching may have
 been lost.  It is extremely common for the exoteric view of esoteric teachings
 to lose this understanding, as examples consider Christianity and Freemasonry.
 The teachings then become more based upon ritualization than realization.
 This does not mean that a true esoteric school does not still exist even though
 its exoteric teachings have been distorted.

  In Gurdjieff's teachings, he considers *three* levels or types of influences
 including the esoteric on one end, the mundane on the other, and between them
 the exoteric influences.  Gurdjieff taught that these exoteric descriptions
 of esoteric teachings have a qualitatively different character than mundane
 influences, and attraction to exoteric teachings can be a precurser to
 attraction to esoteric studies.  Sahaja seems to have separated these
 influences into a kundalini versus not_kundalini dichotomy, yet it seems that
 the not_kundalini influences are of widely varying degrees, and possibly
 Gurdjieff's description of two sub-classes of 'non_kundalini' influences
 may be of value in discriminating these influences.

  What I hope is that Sahaja Yoga can serve as a "unifying principle" under
 which other exoteric teachings may be able to regain part of their esoteric
 core.  A sort of "Ahaa ... that's what these ritual practices were really for
 all along.".  We don't need more 'dueling gurus'.  As in the Sufi story we
 need to understand which part of the elephant we have been touching, which
 parts other people have touched, and how they are all unified within an
 understanding of the entire elephant.

  In response to your questions, I knew that entry 160.9 stemmed from Sahaja
 Yoga because of the account which it was entered under (VIDEO::SU, which has
 written on Sahaja before), and the description of what is wrong with TM
 (which has been previously stressed as what is right with Sahaja).

  Also, yes, I am the same Todd who has attended meetings in Cambridge ...
 but who are you ;-}.  Just kidding, but it has been difficult to track whether
 VIDEO:SU is Sarvesh or Johan, since you both seem to end with "regards" ;-}.
 You both may want to make sure that you sign each note.  By the way, I have
 read your other entries, and I hope you continue to contribute to Dejavu.

		Regards,
						Todd

re .13

unifying principle.

The quality of sahasrara chacra is integration. This means, that all the 
essence of the great teachings of 
the past (now religions), are to be integrated to experience the totality of 
the message brought to human beings.

These essences are the qualities of all the other chacras. It is not 
sufficient only to accept some isolated teaching, all of them are to be 
respected io order to go deeper in the region of sahasrara.

Shaja Yoga or your Kundalini provides you also a unifying basis to judge for 
the truth behing all things.
What is "true" or "false" is no longer to be a judgement of our mind, based on 
what we know, but based on the awareness of our spiritual evolution.

Therefor it is important to do the things that make your Kundalini stronger 
and to avoid things that bring it down again. It is obvious that the clearer
the chacras become, the clearer we percieve our vibrations on which the 
distortions from truth are modulated.

That's why in Sahaja Yoga, the first phase, after self realisation is a phase 
of cleansing ones chacra system. Total freedom exists,however, and one tends 
to judge things in the beginning, partially on ones own understanding and 
maybe partially on the vibrations of ones own Kundalini. This can make 
progress go slower. All the sayings of Sri Mataji are available and can be 
used to understand the things that cannot be felt yet.

Please do understand that in Sahja Yoga there is no membership, there is no 
organisation, the only parameter is the state of depth one has achieved in the 
realisation. So when a Sahaja Yogi communicates about it, it may be muddled up 
little bit. Therefore the words of Sri mataji are the really important ones.
...
We missed you last friday at the cambridge center for adult educ. We announced 
a seminar that will be held next weekend.

The 60 to 70 Sahaja yogis of the east coast will meet in Connecticut on May 12 
- May 14. From fiday evening to Sunday afternoon. Some cars from Boston will 
leave Friday night arond 6.30 7.00 pm. If you want to join, please call us at 
646-7547.
Cost for food and lodging is 45 $ all included. Children usually half price. 
This will be a nice occasion to experience the strenght of the vibrations when 
a group of Yogis are together. There will be meditation, videotapes of Shri 
Mataji, discussions, workshops in nature.

Other news is that Sri Mataji will be visiting the US. from June 12- June 21. 
Looking forward hearing from you again.
j.

    to Todd,
    
    If you're still there reading our messages, Shri Matajis schedule
    is logged in notes 1041.?
    
    regards, johan